[THE INVESTOR] Celltrion Healthcare announced on Oct. 6 that it has chosen TEVA as a distributor for biosimilars Truxima and Herzuma in the US and Canada.

The multinational pharmaceutical company based in Israel will pay US$160 million upfront and will split the profit from commercializing the two biosimilars developed by Celltrion.

Truxima’s reference drug is rheumatoid arthritis and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma treatment Rituxan, and Herzuma’s is breast cancer treatment Herceptin. Both are blockbuster drugs sold by Roche with a combined 13 trillion won global turnover.

Celltrion Healthcare has been negotiating with multiple candidates after the sales rights of the biosimilars were returned by Pfizer in September following its merger with Hospira.

By Hwang You-mee (glamazon@heraldcorp.com)